The present invention relates to carrier apparatus for bicycles and, in particular, to a surfboard carrier for a bicycle or motor driven cycle.
Various types of carriers for surfboards are known in the art. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,323, filed Oct. 15, 1965; U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,484, filed Jan. 28, 1966, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,325, filed Aug. 9, 1968, various types of overhead carrier apparatus are disclosed. However, such overhead carrier apparatus unbalance the two wheel vehicle. In addition, it is generally necessary to lean the bicycle sideways in order to attach the surfboard to the carrier thereafter requiring the bicycle rider to expend a substantial amount of effort to lift the bicycle with the board attached.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,761, filed Oct. 13, 1970, a surfboard carrier rack is disclosed with fore and aft brackets which extend from one side of the bicycle. While this type of side mounted carrier eliminates certain unbalancing effects of the overhead carriers, this carrier has a tendency to cause the bicycle to tip to one side and can adversely affect the rider's ability to turn and pedal.
The present invention provides a novel surfboard carrier for bicycles or other two wheeled vehicles which substantially reduces or eliminates the unbalancing effect of prior art surfboard carrying devices by providing a lower rectangular retention means which is mounted in the longitudinal plane to the rear of the bicycle, and an upper, U-shaped, retention means which is generally forward of the lower retention means. In operation, the nose of the surfboard is inserted, nose down, into the lower retention means with the nose being held above the ground. The surfboard is then pushed forward into the U-shaped retention means with the rear or skag end of the surfboard pointed upwardly and tilted forward towards the bicycle. The forward tilting has the effect of shifting the center of gravity of the surfboard to a point generally over the rear wheel of the bicycle.
A resilient material, such as a polyurethane foam, is then provided to cover the upper and lower retention means to hold the surfboard substantially immovable side-to-side and back-and-forth and to protect the board from being damaged by the hard surfaces of the upper and lower retention means.